Yarn crimping apparatus



D. A. E. MATTINGLY YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Filed June 10, 1964 ORNEYSUnited States Patent O 3,287,783 YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Denis AlbertEdward Mattingly, London, England, assignor to The Klinger ManufacturingCompany Limited, London, England Filed June 10, 1964, Ser. No. 374.045Claims priority, application Great Britain, June 13, 1963, 23,668/ 63 9Claims. (Cl. 28-1) This invention relates to apparatus Afor crimpingyarn by compression so that it assumes a sinuous or zig-zag formationand particularly for crimping yarns formed from organic syntheticmaterial including polyamides, polyesters, and material sold under thetrade name nylon and Perlon and under the registered trademark Teryleneand which apparatus is of the kind comprising a wheel having itsperiphery so formed that the yarn will cling to it and a part of whichperiphery projects into a groove in a member so as to leave a spacebetween those parts, means for heating the yarn whilst in said groove orbefore reaching the groove, or after reaching the groove or for heatingthe yarn at any of these locations, feed rollers arranged to force theyarn into one end of said space, means for driving -said wheel at suchla speed in relation to the feed rollers that the yarn is compressed insaid space and so that the resulting plug of compressed yarn travelsround with said wheel and means for withdrawing said yarn at acontrolled rate from the head of the plug and for winding it into apackage. Two forms of such apparatus are described in my prior patentapplications Serial No. 240,551, filed November 1l, 1962, and Serial No.270,448, now U.S. Patent No. 3,174,206, filed April 3, 1963.

An object of the invention is to enable the extent of crimp to be variedalong the length of the yarn whereby an article formed from the yarn hasa non-uniform `appearance over the area thereof.

The invention is particularly applicable to yarn of large denier andwhich is subsequently cut into lengths forming tufts in carpets. By theuse of the invention the yarn in different tufts may have differentdegrees of crimping or the tufts may be made up of lengths of yarnhaving dierent crimping according to the appearance of the carpet whichis required.

According to this invention an apparatus of the kind referred to in theabove referenced applications is lmodied in that means are provided forperiodically varying the rate of travel of the yarn through the space inwhich 4it is compressed in relation to the rate of feed of the yarn and/or in relation to the rate of withdrawal of the yarn from said space.

In one form of improved apparatus means may be provided for periodicallyvarying the rate of rotation of the feed rollers whereas the rate ofrotation of said wheel and the rate of driving of said withdrawing meansremain substantially constant.

Alternatively the rate of rotation of the feed rollers and the rate ofdrive of the withdrawing means may be maintained substantially constantand said wheel is so driven that its rate of rotation is periodicallyvaried.

In yet another alternative arrangement in which the yarn is subjected toheating and cooling steps after being withdrawn from said wheels, therate of rotation of the feed rollers and of said wheel are maintainedsubstantially constant and the rate of withdrawal of the yarn from saidplug on the wheel is periodically varied.

In any of the arrangements referred to above instead of the speed of thevarious parts being periodically varied they may be arranged so thatthey are constantly varying at a predetermined periodicity.

In the case where the speed is periodically varied cer- Patented Nov.29, 1966 ICC tain stretches of the yarn will have a uniform crimp of onepredetermined extent and other stretches of uniform crimp of anotherextent whereas when the speed is continually changing the extent ofcrimp will vary continuously along the length of the yarn. y

In any of the arrangements where the speed of drive is to be varied thismay be effected .by change speed gear having automatically actuatedcontrolling mechanism.

In yet another alternative arrangement the rate of drive of said feedrollers, and of said Wheel and of the Withdrawing means may bemaintained substantially constant and the periphery of said wheel is soformed as to have varying yarn clinging properties around its periphery.

For example, in the case where the wheel is provided with teeth aroundits periphery certain portions of the periphery may be left clear of theteeth s-o that when this part of the lwheel is opposite the ycompressedyarn it traverses it at a lesser rate than when the toothed part of thewheel is opposite the yarn.

Alternatively certain portions of the periphery may have differenttoothed forms.

Yet again certain portions of the periphery may have different height ofteeth than others. tips of the teeth may lie on the same circumferencewhereas the base portions of the teeth may be disposed on circuferencesof different diameters.

In yet another .arrangement portions of the periphery wheel may bepolished Whereas other parts of the periphery Imay 'be roughened.

The yinvention includes within its scope a yarn in which the extent ofcrimping varied in an orde-red and predetermined manner along the lengththereof.

Other objects and arrangements of the invention will become apparent andthe invention will be fully understood from the following descriptionand drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view partially in cross section of a compositeembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of an alternate embodiment of feed wheel;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a further embodiment of feedwheel;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing still another embodiment offeed wheel; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing still another embodiment offeed wheel.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the invention asembodied includes a stuiiing box crimpe-r in substantial accordance withapplicants prior application Serial No. 240,551. The specic constructiondetails and functioning of the elements designated 10, 12, 14, 16, 18,19, 21, 24a and 72 need not be specifically elaborated on herein asthese conform to applicants prior aforementioned application and arefully disclosed .therein in connection with the description of the guresand particularly FIG. 4 of that application. However, the presentinvention includes a novel combination of programmed variable speedcontrol means 1.00 for altering the speed of the means 102 for drivingthe yarn input feed wheels 19, 19; the feed wheel 14; and/or yarnwithdrawal and take 'up means `which may be operated in accordance withthe preceding description to produce a yarn having varying degrees ofcrimp therein. As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art,when the relative speeds of the respective drive means shown in FIG. 1,are maintained constant, a uniformly crimped product will result. In thepractice of the invention herein disclosed, a product having varyingdegrees of crimp may readily 'be obtained by the programmed speedvariation, either gradually, periodically or .abruptly of one or more ofthe drive means.

In FIG. 2, an alternate form of toothed feed wheel designated 14a isdisclosed. The peripheral portion des- For example, thev ignated 50 isvoid of teeth, which will alter the clinging properties of the yarn plugin this portion of the wheel, thereby altering the crimping conditionsat the bight of the feed rollers 19, 19, during its passage across theend of the crimping chamber 21. Y

The alternate feed wheel designated 1417 of FIG. 3 includes a pluralityof teeth 52 of rounded or otherwise different form from the remainder4of the teeth upon the wheel to accomplish similar results as thoseobtained from the wheel of FIG. 2.

Likewise, the wheel designated 14C in FIG. 4 includes a peripheralportion having shallow root teeth designated 54, S4, which also inrelationship to the adjacent teeth alter the crimping conditions at thebight of the feed rollers 19.

FIG. 5 is yet a further extension of FIGS. 2-4 and includes a feed wheeldesignated 14d having a roughened peripheral portion designated Aadjacent a polished peripheral portion designated B. Again, as -in theprevious gures, the different co-eiiicient of friction between thevarious peripheral portions of feed Wheels 14a to 14d is effective toperiodically alter the crimping characteristics to thereby produce anon-uniformly crimped yarn. While it will be understood that anon-uniformly crimped yarn may be obtained by the use of the feed Wheelsof FIG. 2 to FIG. 5 inclusive, without the use of the programmedvariable speed control means of FIG. 1, 4it should be appreciated thatthe present invention contemplates the individual use as well as thecombined use of any one of the disclosed condition varying means toobtain the desired crimped yarn product.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the application of the inventiveprinciples, it will be understood that the invention may be embodiedotherwise Without departing from such principles.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for crimping yarn comprising feed means having a bight onthe discharge side thereof, confining means of short length havingstationary Wall portions adjacent said bight, enclosure means having aninlet and an outlet, said inlet communicating with the discharge endpofsaid confining means, said enclosure means extending transversely awayfrom said bight, and driven conveyor means having projections extendinginto said enclosure means, whereby the mass of crimped yarn formed insaid coniining means is positively engaged at lthe discharge end of saidconiining means and conveyed through said enclosure means to saidoutlet, and means for periodically varying the speed of said conveyormeans to produce a yarn of non-uniform crimp.

2. Apparatus for crimping yarn comprising feed means having a bight onthe discharge side thereof, confining means of short length havingstationary wall portions adjacent said bight, enclosure means having aninlet and an outlet, said inlet communicating with the discharge end ofsaid confining means, said enclosure means extending transversely away`from said bight, and driven conveyor means having projections extendinginto said enclosure means, whereby the mass of crimped yarn formed insaid confining means is positively engaged at the discharge end of saidconfining means and conveyed through said enclosure means to saidoutlet, and means for periodically varying the speed of said feed meansto produce a yarn of non-uniform crimp.

-3. Aparatus for crimping yarn comprising feed means having a bight onthe discharge side thereof, confining means having stationary wallportions adjacent said bight, enclosure means having an inlet and anoutlet, said inlet communicating with the discharge end of saidconfining means, and driven conveyor means having projections extendingint-o said enclosure means, whereby the massof crimped yarn clings tosaid conveyor means and is positively engaged at the discharge end ofsaid confining means and conveyed through said enclosure means to saidoutlet, and means for varying the speed of said conveyor means andk saidfeed means relative to eachother to produce Ia yarn of nonauniformcrimp.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said driven conveyor meansincludes the periphery of a wheel, said wheel having a tirst peripheralportion, a second peripheral portion, said first and second peripheralportions comprising means for varying the yarn clinging properties ofsaid conveyor means.

5. Apparatus for crimping yarn comprising feed means having a bight onthe discharge side thereof, confining means having stationary Wallportions adjacent said bight, enclosure means having an inlet and anoutlet, said inlet communicating with the discharge end of saidconiining means, and driven conveyor means having projections eX-tending into said enclosure means, whereby the mass of crimped yarnclings to said conveyor means and is positively engaged at the dischargeend of said confining means, and conveyed through said enclosure meansto said outlet, said driven conveyor means comprising the periphery of awheel, said wheel having a iirst peripheral portion, a second peripheralportion, said rst and second peripheral portions comprising means forvarying the yarn clinging properties of said conveyor means, whereby therate of withdrawal 4of said mass of crimped yarn from said confiningmeans is variedto produce a yarn of non-uniform crimp.

6. Apparatus for crimping yarn Iaccording lto claim 5, wherein saidconveyor means comprisera toothed wheel having at least one peripheralportion void of teeth at predetermined dispositions.

7. Apparatus for crimping yarn according to claim 5, wherein saidconveyor means comprise a toothed wheel having at least one peripheralportion with a plurality of rounded teeth.

8. Apparatus for crimping yarn according to claim 5, wherein saidconveyor means comprise a toothed Wheel having at least one peripheralportion with a plurality of teeth of lesser depth than the teeth ofother portions of said Wheel.

9. Apparatus for crimping yarn according to claim S, wherein saidconveyor means comprise a wheel having at least one roughened peripheralportion and at least one smooth peripheral portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,914,835 12/1959 Slayter et al. 28-1 3,027,619 4/ 1962 List et al 28--72 3,137,9116/ 1964 Bromley 28-1 p 3,146,512 9/ 1964 Heijnis 28-1 3,180,003 4/1965Lamb 28-1 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. DONALD W. PARKER, Examiner. L.K. RIMRODT, Assistant Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING YARN COMPRISING FEED MEANS HAVING A BIGHT ONTHE DISCHARGE SIDE THEREOF, CONFINING MEANS OF SHORT LENGTH HAVINGSTATIONARY WALL PORTIONS ADJACENT SAID BIGHT, ENCLOSURE MEANS HAVING ANINLET AND AN OUTLET, SAID INLET COMMUNICATING WITH THE DISCHARGE END OFSAID CONFINING MEANS, SAID ENCLOSURE MEANS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY AWAYFROM SAID BIGHT, AND DRIVEN CONVEYOR MEANS HAVING PROJECTIONS EXTENDINGINTO SAID ENCLOSURE MEANS, WHEREBY THE MASS OF CRIMPED YARN FORMED INSAID CONFINING MEANS IS POSITIVELY ENGAGED AT THE DISCHARGE END OF SAIDCONFINING MEANS AND CONVEYED THROUGH SAID ENCLOSURE MEANS TO SAIDOUTLET, AND MEANS FOR PERIODICALLY VARYING THE SPEED OF SAID CONVEYORMEANS TO PRODUCE A YARN OF NON-UNIFORM CRIMP.